LIVE AND WORK IN CROATIA:

Foreigners, who are obligated to apply for visa (f.e. russians), must do so prior to their entry into the Republic of Croatia, at the responsible Croatian diplomatic mission/consular post. They have to file the request for visa personally and at most 3 months before the intended journey.

Aliens cannot work in Croatia on grounds of travel or any other visa.

Short-term visa is issued for transit through the RC or for stay in the RC for a time period of maximum 5 years for one, two or more entries in the RC. An Alien filing the request for short-term visa for one or two entries is obligated to prove he has certain and valid travel health insurance to cover the eventual costs, while an alien filing the request for short-term visa for more entries is obligated to prove he has certain and valid travel health insurance to cover the time of his first intended visit and is obligated to sign the statement on the obligation to own a travel insurance for future visits.

1. Alien is on a private visit, invited by a natural person

An alien coming to the Republic of Croatia on a private visit shall enclose with the visa application the letter of guarantee, as proof of the purpose of their visit, filled out by a guarantor – natural person from Croatia. The guarantor can be a Croatian national or an alien with granted residence in Croatia, who receives income or has financial means in the Republic of Croatia. The guarantor’s signature on the letter of guarantee shall be certified by a public notary.

2. Alien is on a business visit, invited by a legal person

An alien coming to the Republic of Croatia on a business visit shall enclose with the visa application the letter of guarantee, as proof of the purpose of their visit, filled out by a guarantor – legal person from Croatia. The letter of guarantee shall be signed by the person authorised to represent the guarantor and certified by an official stamp.

Visa cannot be prolonged except in case of vis maior or for humanitarian reasons or serious personal reasons. Even if visa is prolonged, an alien cannot stay in RC longer than 90 days in a 6 months period, counting from the day of his first entry.

SHORT-TERM AND TEMPORARY STAY AND PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN RC

An Alien can stay in the RC on short-term, temporary or permanent stay.

SHORT-TERM STAY – aliens stay for a maximum period of 3 months

TEMPORARY STAY (if the purpose of stay is work)

– temporary stay with the purpose of work is granted in form of stay and work permit

– request for the temporary residence is filed by the foreigner at the responsible Croatian diplomatic mission/consular post, and the request for the stay and work permit can be filed by the employer at the competent police authority

– temporary residence is granted for a time-period of maximum 1 year

– request for the prolongation of the temporary residence is filed at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the current, valid temporary residence permit, at the competent police authority according to the employers residence or seat or the employees place of work

Temporary stay shall be granted to an alien if:

1. he justifies the purpose of temporary stay

2. he has a valid travel document

3. he has the means of subsistence – the lowest monthly amount is 2.000,00 Kuna, for a two-member family 2.750,00 Kuna, and for every additional member 500, 00 Kuna more per person.

4. he has a proof of allocated health insurance in RC- citizens of countries that haven’t entered into social insurance contract with Croatia are obligated to submit travel insurance, and after they enter into RC and are granted temporary residence, they are obligated to contact the competent Croatian department for health insurance in order to acquire the health insurance rights.

5. he is not banned from entering or staying in RC

6. he doesn’t represent a danger for public order, national security or public health.

With the request for first temporary stay, an alien must submit the impunity certificate of the state whose citizen is the foreigner or in which he has permanent stay, not older than 6 months

Temporary stay on grounds of family reunification can be granted to foreigners’ family member, if that foreigner lives in Croatia on grounds of a valid one year stay and work permit, but only if he has also had temporary stay in Croatia for at least 2 years.

PERMANENT RESIDENCE

– is granted to a foreigner who has been in possession of a temporary stay permit for an uninterrupted period of 5 years before the submission of the application, which means that in a 5 year period his/her several-time absence has not lasted longer than 10 months or his/her one-time absence has not lasted longer than 6 months.

The time required for granting permanent residence shall not include:

– the period of temporary stay on grounds of the stay and work permit for the purpose of work for seasonal workers the providers of services on behalf of a foreign employer and „au pair“ work

– the time spent serving a prison sentence

When the decision is made on the request for permanent residence, one must have temporary stay in RC.

Permanent residence shall be granted to foreigners who:

1. have a valid foreign travel document
2. have the means of subsistence- see above- temporary stay
3. have health insurance- see above- temporary stay
4. have Knowledge of the Croatian language and the Latin script as well as of the Croatian culture and the organisation of the Croatian society

– this may be testedby institutions of higher education that are responsible for Croatian language study programmes

– certificate of Knowledge of the Croatian language and the Latinscript is not obligatory for children in preschool, children attending primary and secondary school in Croatia, a foreigner who has proof of, primary, secondary or faculty education finished in Croatia, foreigners above 60 if they are not employed and foreigners who have, by filing on their own the query at the police station, proved that he/she has the Knowledge Croatian culture and the organisation of the Croatian society

5. do not represent a danger for public order, national security or public health

Permanent residence is revoked if:

a foreigner has a refusal of entry and stay in Croatia,

a foreigner has moved out of Croatia or has uninterruptedly stayed abroad for a time period longer than one year,

it is determined that the foreigner has knowingly given untruthful information or has knowingly covered the purpose and the circumstances important for the decision on permanent residence

it is necessary for the protection of public order, national security or public health

the foreigner demands it.

WORK IN CROATIA

An Alien can work in the RC on grounds of the issued Stay and work permit or the issued certificate on the work application and only on those jobs for which these permits/certificates have been issued. Aliens may work without these permits/certificates only if they are granted permanent stay.

STAY AND WORK PERMIT

Stay and work permit is a unique permit on grounds of which an alien is allowed to temporary stay and work in RC. This permit comprises former work and business permit.

Stay and work permit is issued to the foreigner for the time necessary for work, i.e. for the time for which the employment contract or other appropriate contract is entered into, and for the maximum time period of one year.

Stay and work permit can be issued on grounds of annual quota or beyond the annual quota.

a) on grounds of annual quota – it shall be granted to an alien who submits:

1. employment contract, i.e. written certificate that proves that the employment contract has been entered into or another adequate proof of employment

6. consular tax if the request is filed in the diplomatic mission or consular post of

the RC or 20,00 Kuna tax, if a request is filed in Croatia

b) beyond annual quota – can be issued to:

1. daily migrant workers under condition of reciprocity

2. aliens who are performing key duties in companies and branches, but only if:

– the amount of the legal capital of the company, or the assets of the limited or the unlimited partnership go beyond 100.000,00 kn,

– there are at least 3 Croatian citizens employed in the company or branch office of a foreign company on workplaces that are not ones of a procures, member of the management nor supervision

– his gross salary is at least the same as the average gross salary paid in Croatia in the past year according to the officially published data from the competent statistics body

If there are more aliens performing key duties for the same employer, the stay and work permit shall be issued to/if:

-there are at least 5 Croatian citizens employed per every employed alien on workplaces that are not ones of a procures, member of the management nor supervision

– the amount of the legal capital of the company, or the assets of the limited or the unlimited partnership go beyond 100.000,00 kn

– their gross salary is at least the same as the average gross salary paid in Croatia in the past year according to the officially published data from the competent statistics body

3. aliens transferred with an intern staff transfer within the companies; the permit is then issued exceptionally for a time-period up to 2 years, unless one requests it for a shorter time-period

4. an alien who is self-employed in his own company or has more than 51% of owners share in the company or his own craft, if

– he had invested at least 200.000,00 kn in the founding of a company or a craft

– he employs at least 3 Croatian citizens,

– his gross salary is at least the same as the average gross salary paid in Croatia in the past year

– the company or the craft doesn’t have losses

– he submits the proof on the paid taxes and contributions in Croatia

5. an employee who provides services for an alien employer who doesn’t have the right of establishment in the EEA Member State, if the service provider is employed with the alien employer and has certain qualifications, and the alien employer has entered into contract with the company or craft in Croatia, under a condition that this represents specific service providing in the area of high technology and that providing services represents the interest of the RC.

6. teachers who teach language and letter of national minorities

7. professional sportsmen or sports workers working in Croatia

8. artist employed in culture institutions in Croatia

9. aliens employed in foreign associations registered as foreign associations in Croatia and at least three more states

10. aliens who are members of foundation bodies, representatives of foreign foundations and foundations registered in the foreign foundations registry in RC

11. aliens employed on grounds of mobility programme for young people conducted by the RC in cooperation with other countries

12. scientific researchers and aliens employed in scientific or other research workplaces in scientific legal persons

Stay and work permit shall be issued beyond annual if the alien submits:

– employment contract, i.e. written certificate that proves that the employment contract has been entered into or another adequate proof of employment

– proof of educational and other foreigners’ qualifications,

– proof on the company’s, branch’s, crafts etc. registration

– explanation on justification for employing a foreigner with the data on foreigners professional knowledge, qualifications and work experience, and an explanation as to why that workplace cannot be fulfilled with employees from Croatia.

– one coloured photo size 35×45 mm

– filled form (form 9a)

– consular tax if the request is filed in the diplomatic mission or consular post of

the RC

– 20,00 Kuna tax, if a request is filed in Croatia

CERTIFICATE ON THE WORK APPLICATION

Aliens that wish to work up to 30, 60 or 90 days in a year in Croatia are obligated, before they start to work, to acquire from the competent police authority or police station the certificate on the work application. On grounds of the issued certificate on the work application, an alien can work for one employer in any part of Croatia.

CITIZENSHIP

A foreigner can acquire Croatian citizenship under certain conditions

– they are:

1. that he/she is 18 years old and has the capacity to exercise rights
2. that he/she has the Certificate on Impunity by competent foreign authority of the state of which the applicant is citizen and the state in which he has permanent stay, in original or in properly certified photocopy with translation to Croatian language, not older than 6 months

3. that he/she lives in RC with registered and uninterrupted stay for 8 years, prior to filing the request for citizenship, and at the time when the request is filed has permit for permanent stay

5. That it could be concluded from his/her behaviour that he/she respects legal system and customs in the RC

Foreigners older than 60 don’t have to fulfil the condition from point 4 and those whose acquisition in Croatian citizenship represents an interest of the RC don’t have to fulfil the conditions set in points 1-4.